I have been writing for Forbes since 2005. Prior to that I covered the business beat for the New York Daily News. Because I've studied both finance and journalism, and because I like both numbers & analysis and sports, what's a more fun job than merging the two, writing about sports from the business side and from the stat geek/number crunching side? I have a BS in business from Boston College and a masters in business journalism from New York University.

The NFL's Most Overpaid Players Of 2012

New York Jets linebacker David Harris is a very good player. Playing alongside the noisy and hard-hitting Bart Scott, Harris, a sixth-year man out of Michigan, quietly led the Jets with 65 tackles last season. His five quarterback sacks were second on the club.

But there’s a difference between very good and elite. Harris is known as a run stopper who sometimes has trouble in pass coverage. He’s made All-Pro just once, when he was a second-team selection in 2009. Solid as he is, you don’t expect to see him making more than every other linebacker in the NFL.

And yet, that where Harris’ $12 million in salary and bonus this season puts him. And so there’s little choice but to include him on our list of the NFL’s most overpaid players. He’s got company from the Jets: wide receiver Santonio Holmes (one 1,000-yard season; $9.25 million) and cornerback Antonio Cromartie (one Pro Bowl five years ago; $8.25 million) also make the cut.

We came up with our list of overpaid players not through sheer stats – that makes little sense in football, where team systems and game plans drive many of the numbers -but by using basic common sense. We looked at all NFL players making at least $5 million in 2012 (there are 169 of them) and determined which have given back the least performance-wise over the past few years. Who’s getting All-Pro money without making All-Pro? Who’s been having trouble staying on the field consistently?

In addition to the Jets’ trio, other members of the top 10 include Oakland running back Darren McFadden ($7.8 million), who’s had one 1,000-plus rushing season since being drafted in 2008, and Jacksonville receiver Marcedes Lewis ($9.6 million), who had 10 touchdown catches in his lone Pro Bowl season of 2009, and a total of eight TDs in his other five seasons combined.

We’ll admit that compared to other sports, the NFL All-Overpaid list isn’t easy to put together. All the players on it are good. In fact, the thing that catches your eye about NFL salaries is the relative paucity of players who are blatantly overpaid. The NBA is sprinkled with big-money bench warmers averaging five points a game. Baseball has its unproductive, aging stars collecting mega millions on the back ends of long-term contracts (the Yankees are locked into 37-year-old Alex Rodriguez for five more years and $114 million, plus possible bonuses connected to his pursuit of Barry Bonds’ career home run record – managing partner Hal Steinbrenner practically locked big brother Hank in the attic after that one).

The NFL has a knack for controlling such things — one of the reasons the league stands as the most well-oiled business machine in American sports. Rarely are player contracts fully guaranteed. That headline number of $96 million that Peyton Manning signed for to join the Denver Broncos for five years? Only the first $18 million is guaranteed. If the Broncos were to cut Manning during next year’s training camp, they save a boatload of money. The Yankees can only dream of doing that with A-Rod.

The result of all that salary flexibility is that for the most part, big money goes to the guys that produce. Traditionally, the one big exception was rookie contracts, where top picks got enormous bonuses based on potential. But even that annoyance was taken care of in the latest collective bargaining agreement The two latest No. 1 picks, Andrew Luck and Cam Newton, got about a quarter of the $86 million that Sam Bradford got from the St. Louis Rams, who drafted him first in 2010 (incidentally, we stayed away from young high draft pick like Bradford and Tampa Bay defensive tackle Gerald McCoy on the all-overpaid list, figuring they deserve a bit more time to live up to their rookie deals).

Still, within the framework of responsible spending, there will always be players who are relatively overpaid (or underpaid) for what they produce. David Harris can clearly play. But at $12 million, he’s one of them.

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I think this article is pretty unfair – you can’t look at a player’s contract in a vacuum. Yes, at $12MM, Harris looks overpaid this year, but his average salary across his 4 year deal is just under $8MM which looks pretty reasonable for one of the top inside LBs in the league. Let’s see the whole picture, Forebes.

No offense to the list or article but as a 49er fan and absolutely having no alliance to the Texans, having Johnathan Joseph on the list of being over paid is quite ludicrous. His career stats and pro bowl selection last year speak for themselves. Also the Texans Defense ranking went from near the bottom of the league in 2010 to near the top in 2012.

No offense to the list or article but as a 49er fan and absolutely having no alliance to the Texans, having Johnathan Joseph on the list of being over paid is quite ludicrous. His career stats and pro bowl selection last year speak for themselves. Also the Texans Defense ranking went from near the bottom of the league in 2010 to near the top in 2011.

johnathan joseph should not be on this list. i believe he earned his contract. while in cincinnatti performed very good and has now elevated into one of the best in the league. the proof is in the pudding. shut down corner in my opinion

“We came up with our list of overpaid players not through sheer stats – that makes little sense in football, where team systems and game plans drive many of the numbers -but by using basic common sense.”

So much for that…Vernon Davis has had disappointing receiving numbers because he’s been on power running teams with sub-standard quarterbacks. Anyone in the know in the NFL will tell you that he’s one of the best blocking tight ends (which you seem to have completely glossed over) and one of the top-5 most talented tight ends in the league.

Also, you justified your inclusion of Johnathan Joseph on this list by saying that he was great last year, but not as good the years before. Considering how last year was his first year with the Texans and his first year under his current contract, I don’t see how the previous years are relevant. Joseph provided a serious surplus last year as one of the few lock down corners in the league.